Our Lady of Lourdes

by Fr. Don Kline, V.F.  |  02/08/2026  |  Letter from the Pastor

Dear Brothers and Sister,

On Wednesday, February 11th, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, whose first of 18 apparitions to St. Bernadette took place 168 years ago in the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, France. On February 26, 1858, during the 9th apparition, St. Bernadette, following Our Lady's request, uncovered the spring at Massabielle (the grotto). That same day, word spread of the event, but it was Catherine Latapie, who came just days later, who received what would become the first officially recognized miracle: her paralyzed hand was instantly restored after bathing it in the spring.

Because of the connection of Our Lady with those who are suffering, we also celebrate World Day of the Sick. On this day, the entire Catholic Church is invited to pray for all those who carry the cross of illness and suffering. This day is a time for each of us to strengthen our resolve and to care for those who are ill or in need. Our Lady of Lourdes points us to the compassion of God and the mercy that Our Lord wants each of us to receive and share.

Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette to unleash an ocean of God's healing mercy. The Blessed Virgin Mary asked for a chapel to be built that would be a place of prayer for those who are sick and for conversions. Over the last 168 years, there has been a miraculous outpouring of love and mercy for millions of suffering people in Lourdes. In addition to those who have visited Lourdes and received healing and mercy, millions of Good Samaritans have come to serve the 'malades, the sick, rolling them in wheelchairs to the baths, in the processions, at Mass, to their residences, and so much more. It is so moving to see tens of thousands of people who care for pilgrims, embrace them with open arms and share the love of God.

The pinnacle of the Christian life includes an unselfish Christ-like love of others. The Blessed Mother came to Lourdes to help the world to be transformed by God's love. Our Lady wants to inspire us to help those who are physically ill, spiritually sick, emotionally wounded, or otherwise in need. We do that first by our prayers, but the fruit of prayer is always charity.

Pope Francis, in his Message for the World Day of the Sick, once said, "Let us turn our thoughts to the Shrine of Lourdes, a prophetic lesson entrusted to the Church for our modern times. It is not only what functions well or those who are productive that matter. Sick people, in fact, are at the center of God's people, and the Church advances together with them as a sign of a humanity in which everyone is precious, and no one should be discarded or left behind." Mary came to Lourdes with a prophetic message. Not a new one, but an ever true one always in need of being lived out in real and meaningful ways. It's the message and mission of mercy her Son, Jesus, brought into the world.

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI, traveled to Lourdes for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions. Pope Benedict noted that when St. Bernadette first asked Our Lady to tell her her name, our Lady didn't respond in words. She responded with a serene smile. "In the smile of the most eminent of all creatures, looking down on us," Pope Benedict said, "is reflected our dignity as children of God, that dignity that never abandons the sick person. This smile, a true reflection of God's tenderness, is the source of an invincible hope." Mary came to Lourdes to smile at us - a smile coming not only of her maternal love, but a reflection of the way God smiles on us with tenderness. That smile reminds us of our dignity, of how much God loves us, and how that divine and human love behind that smile is the constitutive reality of our existence and worth. Mary ultimately wants to help us along the path that will lead us to smile just as serenely, in this life and in the next.

As we celebrate her feast day this Wednesday, remember Mary smiling down on you. We thank Our Blessed Mother for her powerful intercession. We thank her for the graces poured out for the students, staff, faculty, and visitors who come to our parish and school. We pray that our community will become like the home Mary made in Nazareth to nourish Jesus, Joseph and so many guests. We pray that, like Lourdes, our community will be a place where people, who are going through rough patches, will find solace and a reflection in Mary's smile, a "true reflection of God's tenderness" and a "source of invincible hope." Please join the Legion of Mary after the 8:30am Mass on Wednesday February 11th for a Marian procession around the parish grounds in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes.

God Bless,

Fr. Donald J. Kline